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Given two recent murderous attacks on American synagogues, combined with terrorist missiles from Gaza landing throughout southern and central Israel, it is easy and understandable to be pessimistic. But a new study on Jews in Canada is jam-packed with reasons for optimism.

The report 2018 Survey of Jews in Canada was released recently. Produced by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, the University of Toronto and York University, the study was funded by Federation CJA and other Jewish communal organizations. To those who have followed these subjects closely, the data are not completely surprising but, brought together in a single document, it is quite a compendium of encouragement.

Inspired by a groundbreaking 2013 Pew Research Centre study on American Jewry, the report assesses a wide range of factors, including the importance of Jewishness in the lives of respondents, how they define that identity, membership in synagogues and Jewish organizations, financial support for Jewish causes, candlelighting and other religious observances, intermarriage, experiences with discrimination, connections to Israel, dedication to repairing the world, migration patterns and even federal political party support.

Perhaps because of its inspiration in the American example, the study routinely compares Canadian findings with the situation to the south. This is fair, given the useful contrasts it provides – and it is especially illuminating to see that many of the differences between the Jewish communities in the two countries paint a very positive picture of the Canadian situation.

Only half of American Jews have made a financial donation to a Jewish organization or cause, compared with 80% of Canadian Jews.

Canadian Jewish kids are twice as likely to attend a Jewish day school or yeshivah and a greater proportion of Canadian Jews have attended Sunday school, Hebrew school or an overnight Jewish summer camp. The number of Canadian Jews who are bar or bat mitzvah is higher than that of Americans – 60% versus 50%. Intermarriage rates in the United States are about 50%, compared with 23% in Canada.

Canadian Jews have a much stronger connection to Israel than American Jews, with twice the likelihood of having visited the country. Nevertheless, Canadians and Americans “are similarly divided in their opinions about the political situation in Israel,” according to the report.

Rudimentary Hebrew is common among the vast majority of Canadian Jews, with 75% saying they know the aleph-bet and 40% claiming to be able to have a conversation in the language. Among the groups with the greatest proficiency in Hebrew are those under 30 years of age. These numbers are significantly higher than those of our American cousins.

Among Jewish Canadians, 64% say that being Jewish is very important in their lives, compared with 46% of Americans, while only 8% of Canadian Jews say being Jewish is not very, or not at all, important, compared with 20% of American Jews.

An astonishing 80% of Canadian Jews (or, at least, respondents to the survey) indicate an educational attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 29% of the general population. Similar findings two decades ago led to a major investment by Jewish communal bodies in youth-serving agencies like Hillel, which was seen as the last, best hope for reaching unaffiliated young Jews. As these numbers suggest, while many other aspects of Jewish identity may be discarded or de-emphasized, the commitment to education is among the most effectively transmitted values from generation to generation.

Among Canadian Jews, 47% belong to a Jewish communal organization other than a synagogue, compared with 18% for Jewish Americans. (In Winnipeg, this number is 57%, which helps explain why that comparatively small Jewish community is so impressively active.)

The report does not provide definitive explanations for the differences, though different factors are suggested to play a role in various scenarios. If we were to posit an overarching theory about the differences between American and Canadian Jews, it would go back to the 20th century’s very different experiences. The Canadian Jewish community was massively influenced by postwar immigration, including survivors of the Holocaust. These newcomers remade the Canadian Jewish community, to some extent, in their own image. The American Jewish community, in comparison, was already strong and had well-developed infrastructures before the

influx of survivors and other immigrants after 1945. As the report indicates, Canada also has a different approach to multiple identities, with multiculturalism being officially celebrated, whereas the American trend is to downplay difference and assume a unified Americanism.

Of course, there is no prize for being “better” Jews than our fellows from another country – even if it does satisfy our innate Canadian need to differentiate ourselves from Americans. Nonetheless, in a world with so many challenges, where is the harm in celebrating good news?

Jewish people worldwide are in a time of challenge and change. Many European Jews are questioning their futures there, and communities in Latin America, Africa and Asia are experiencing a range of external and internal challenges, including changing relationships with Israel and with the rest of the Diaspora. Some of the factors that account for the positive news in the recent report are distinctively Canadian and cannot be replicated. But the study deserves a closer look by all Diaspora Jewish communities to see if there are successes that could be replicated elsewhere. We sometimes like to flatter ourselves by declaring “the world needs more Canada.” So might the Jewish Diaspora.

Holocaust education is commonplace in Jewish schools. But, in public schools, discussion about the Shoah is at each teacher’s discretion. Some 14 months ago, teachers at Springfield Collegiate Institute public school in Oakbank, Man., decided they would take 30 Grade 11 and 12 students to see Second World War sites firsthand.

Despite that Oakbank is home to few Jewish families, the school has been inviting Holocaust survivors to speak to students and has been educating its students about the Holocaust for years. Last year, teachers Jim Osler and James Chagnon made the decision to take things further.

“While this was not on a topic brought up in a regular class, we organized activities outside of class time for these students in the evenings and on the weekends to educate them a little more,” said Chagnon of preparing the students for the 12-day trip, which started March 20.

“We visited a synagogue and talked to a rabbi about what it means to be Jewish, because we don’t have any experience with that,” Chagnon told the Independent. “We went and met two Holocaust survivors, who talked about their experiences in the camps. And we went to a conference on antisemitism hosted at the Rady JCC [in Winnipeg]. So, we did a lot of prep work outside of the school with these guys to make sure they’d be ready for what they’d be experiencing.”

Chagnon referred to a recent study that found that only about 30% of Canadian high school students had awareness or knowledge of the Holocaust.

“I had always taught English here in the school in addition to history – novels like The Diary of Anne Frank – and these seem to be getting pushed to the wayside,” said Chagnon. “The younger generations these days, especially in a community like ours that doesn’t have a big Jewish population … it’s just something I don’t think parents have a lot of experience with and, so, it’s not passed onto the kids. So, if they don’t learn about it in school or as part of our programs or clubs, they maybe aren’t going to learn about it at all.”

The school had wanted to take more than 30 students on the March trip, but had to stick to that maximum for logistical reasons. Participating students had to fundraise to pay their way.

Madison Stojak, in Grade 12, and Anna Palidwor, in Grade 11, were both born and raised in rural Manitoba, and had little knowledge or interaction with Jews prior to attending Springfield Collegiate.

“Hearing Holocaust survivors’ stories and then going to the camps, like Auschwitz and Birkenau … you could remember what the survivors said and picture it, what they must have gone through while they were there,” Palidwor told the Independent. “How we felt while we were there has stuck with everybody after we came back. Also, we’re more aware of the race issues that are out there… That’s definitely stuck with me … realizing it’s still here, wherever we go, the hate.”

While the school group was at the Warsaw Ghetto, a man on a motorbike drove by and gave the middle finger to a group of Israeli students who were standing beside them. “After all that, you’re just more aware of it, anywhere you go,” said Palidwor.

Both Stojak and Palidwor have talked about their experiences with family and friends.

“When I shared it with my family members, it was kind of surreal to them,” said Stojak. “They were like, ‘How could other people treat people like this? How could this happen? How come no one stopped it?’ They were questioning the same things I think all of us were questioning on the trip.”

“One of the strong points we really tried to push on the students, in terms of their learning, to understand, is that this isn’t the first time this has happened,” Chagnon said. “We definitely want it to be the last time, so we can’t just sit by and be passive bystanders anymore. When you see antisemitism, you are now obligated to call it out, draw attention to it, so we can change the way the world works.”

When the students returned from the trip, they were taken aback by some of the reaction they heard from fellow students who did not go.

Stojak said, “I hadn’t heard any comments before the trip like these – until they realized we were there … people started making rude comments … hateful comments. I think they were saying it to get us upset, and I also think that they’re really undereducated and don’t understand how serious it is.

“One comment someone said to me was, ‘Don’t touch me with your Holocaust hands!’ That’s what someone said to me. And, as soon as he said that, I said, ‘What did you just say?’ And he repeated it. I looked at him and said, ‘You didn’t just say that to me. That’s ridiculous. Do you know how many millions of people died there? That’s not something you should be saying.’

“I stood up immediately and shut it down,” said Stojak. “It made me feel sick to my stomach. How could someone make a comment like this? When he said that, I pictured standing there at Auschwitz or Birkenau and thinking, how could someone be so ignorant to say that?”

“These kinds of comments are making us want to be more active,” said Palidwor, “and to explain it to more people who weren’t there and tell them what the Holocaust is.”

The 30 Springfield Collegiate Institute students, three parent chaperones and two teachers in the old town square in Krakow, Poland. (photo from SCI Students)

One of the things that stuck in Chagnon’s mind from the trip was the incident with the Israeli students. He noticed that there were a dozen security personnel with the Israeli student group but none with the Canadian school group.

“One of my students said, ‘Wow, I didn’t understand how bad it was – that these kids on a school trip from Israel have to be accompanied by security guards,’” said Chagnon. “That kind of struck me and I made sure to point it out to my students. It gives you a bit of perspective for the Jewish community – how scared they must be all the time – that they can’t send students to learn about the history of their people, their culture and religion, without having to send security with them.”

Another thing that stood out for Chagnon occurred when the group was visiting a Jewish cemetery and noticed that locals use the cemetery as a bathroom stop for their dogs.

“I’m a guest in their country, but I was shaking, I was so angry,” he said. “I couldn’t believe people would show such indignity to a group of people who suffered so much already.

The memorial at Mila 18 Ghetto Uprising site in Warsaw, Poland. (photo by Jim Osler, SCI)

“We had a nightly debrief at the end of every evening,” he continued, “where we sat around and talked about the day, how we felt about it and our reactions to it, and that’s one thing I brought up … that some of this stuff may seem to have gone away … maybe it isn’t as bad as it was, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there, just bubbling under the surface, waiting for an opportunity to pop up.

“For me, that’s the reason we did a trip like this, and I know Jim [Osler] feels the same way.… They say people who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it and, for me, that’s very true. You have to talk about these things, even the ugly things in history, so we don’t let it happen again.”

In the 1970s, when Dr. Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg was eyeing the budding field of genetics as a career, she had to become a pediatric doctor first. Now, Rockman-Greenberg counts her clinical background as a blessing, one that, today, geneticists no longer require.

“Having a strong background in clinical medicine certainly always helped me in my career, because the kind of genetics I was always interested in was in rare metabolic diseases,” said Rockman-Greenberg. “These are diseases often caused by enzyme deficiencies that go by very elaborate names. Having a good foundation in clinical medicine through pediatrics certainly helped me.”

Rockman-Greenberg, who lives in Winnipeg, was invited to speak at the city’s Congregation Shaarey Zedek Sisterhood Interfaith Luncheon on April 30.

“I learned that the luncheon was spearheaded through the sisterhood in many ways to promote information sharing between the faiths,” she said, noting that a purpose of the event is education and “to look at how we can build bridges between people of different faiths and not build walls.”

“From a global perspective,” she said, “I think it fits the themes of the interfaith luncheon. And, from a Jewish perspective, I’ve certainly been involved over the years, particularly with the National Council of Jewish Women, of increasing awareness of the importance of genes for health, and bringing together some of the advocacy groups in rare genetic disorders.

“I helped the National Council put out a brochure on carrier testing on new genetic disorders in the Ashkenazi Jewish population that has been extremely well-received worldwide. This information is always evolving.”

At the luncheon, Rockman-Greenberg was planning to discuss, among other things, Bill S-201, also known as the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act, which passed into law in Canada in 2017, though it is still being challenged by insurance companies in Quebec.

“This is a remarkable act in the sense that it does protect Canadians from the use of genetic test results outside of medical care and medical research,” Rockman-Greenberg told the Independent. “In other words, genetic test results do not have to be disclosed to insurance companies or employers. We’re one of many countries who have such legislation in place, and many people here have worked for years and years lobbying for similar legislation for Canada.”

Methods of genetic testing continue to advance, said Rockman-Greenberg. Tests that were nonexistent or very complicated to administer as recently as two decades ago can now be done quickly and inexpensively.

“The evolution has dramatically changed over the past 10 years, particularly in the sense that the techniques we use to diagnose genetic disease have dramatically changed – from studying one gene at a time, to being able to sequence the entire genome of an individual,” she explained.

When Rockman-Greenberg refers to “new genetics,” she is referring to the ability to offer state-of-the-art, revolutionary genetic testing that was not possible just 10 years ago. It is this access that Rockman-Greenberg is lobbying for now.

“Everybody doesn’t have the same access to the testing in Canada,” she said. “It’s certainly not uniform from province to province or within provinces. So, many people are very committed to ensuring there are strategies in place to promote fairness.

“Notwithstanding that, the legislation is going to protect people against disclosing information that is already in place. I think we are ahead of the game because we have this in place. But, we are not ahead of the game in making sure people are going to have access to new diagnostic testing and new therapeutics in a way that’s going to be equal across the board.”

Rockman-Greenberg’s focus on rare metabolic diseases means that she has witnessed firsthand the struggles to get specialty drugs approved through a system focused on the big diseases, such as diabetes and cancer.

“You may get a new drug for diabetes that will be approved and available for patients very quickly, whereas some of the new drugs for other diseases I treat can take years and years before they go through the approval process,” she said.

Rockman-Greenberg thought that the topic was an appropriate one for an interfaith gathering, “as everybody having the same chance to be successful is very important to me. I work with families and patient support groups to help remove barriers and help people feel empowered.”

She said, “There are many challenges in dealing with rare diseases and I try to work both sides: the patient side, as well as advocate for changes at the government level, to make sure there is fairness in access to new therapies.”

“We were saddened, horrified and deeply angered by the murderous terrorist attack in Christchurch, which was clearly motivated by hatred of Muslims that was at least in part fomented online,” Martin Sampson of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) told the Independent. “This is another disturbing example of how terrorists and mass murderers make use of social media – both before and after attacks – to spread their heinous message.”

On Friday, March 15, 50 Muslims were murdered by a white nationalist terrorist at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. On Oct. 27, 2018, 11 Jews were murdered at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Penn. Both perpetrators had been active in spreading hatred online. In the case of Tree of Life Synagogue, the shooter had written a post announcing his intentions hours before the attack.

“This issue has been of interest to us for some time,” said Sampson. “We included it as a core federal priority in our Federal Issues Guide, which was released in September of 2018. The horrific shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in late October, and the fact that the assailant had been highly active in promoting antisemitism on social media – it is reported that he posted more than 700 antisemitic messages online in the nine months or so prior to the attack – underscored the urgency of the issue and the need to increase awareness about the connection between online hate and offline violence. This is why we launched notonmyfeed.ca.”

The goal of CIJA’s #notonmyfeed campaign is to reduce the spread of online hate speech. “In any democratic society that values freedom and individual rights, no right is absolute,” said Sampson. “Striking a reasonable balance between preserving free speech and protecting Canadians from those who systematically demonize and slander entire communities is a challenging, complex task, but not an impossible one.”

CIJA is calling for a comprehensive response that addresses hate in a variety of forms, not just antisemitism, he said. “We can preserve free speech while protecting Canadians from those who deliberately promote hostility – and even glorify violence – against entire communities.”

Sampson said there is a direct link between online hate speech and violence. “In countless cases – such as in the case of individuals who have been radicalized to participate in terrorism or hate crimes – online propaganda has been a significant factor,” he said. “This is a complex issue. Understanding it and developing tools to counter it is why we are calling on the government of Canada to take the lead by launching a national strategy to tackle online hate, working in partnership with social media platforms and internet service providers.”

Some people contend that, if online hate speech foreshadows offline violence, there may be some value in monitoring it, rather than forcing it underground. As well, if kicked off one social platform, those inciting hatred can just move to another one.

“In cases of ignorance, inappropriate statements or offhand comments that are bigoted, counter-speech is clearly the best response, and these types of online behaviours are not the focus of our calls for a national strategy to tackle online hate. In cases of propaganda being systematically produced by extremists – particularly when it includes the glorification of violence – allowing it to continue can in some cases pose significant risks to public safety,” said Sampson about these concerns. “Moreover, allowing such behaviour to take place on social media platforms often violates the basic terms and conditions of those sites. Social media platforms should enforce their own existing policies.”

The movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel over its treatment of Palestinians is controversial, with some seeing it as a legitimate tactic opposing human rights abuses and others seeing it as a form of discrimination rooted in antisemitism. “It is neither the focus of our policy position on online hate, nor can I perceive any scenario in which BDS would be implicated or affected by a national strategy to tackle online hate,” said Sampson, when asked whether BDS was one of the intended targets of CIJA’s campaign. “To be clear – we strongly oppose BDS and work to expose and counter the real agenda of the BDS movement, but that is a very separate challenge and completely distinct from our call for a national strategy to combat online hate.”

Asked if CIJA has any plans for addressing hate speech in the Jewish community itself, Sampson said, “Our position on online hate is that a national strategy should address hate in a variety of forms, not just antisemitism. This is why we have mobilized a coalition of communities, including the Muslim community, to join us in this effort. We believe every online account should be held to the same standard, regardless of the identity of the person who runs the account. When it comes to the Jewish community, we strive to set an example in how we manage our social media accounts, allowing debate and diverse opinions in the comments section of our posts, while having a zero tolerance policy toward bigotry and hateful comments.”

Matthew Gindinis a freelance journalist, writer and lecturer. He is Pacific correspondent for the CJN, writes regularly for the Forward, Tricycle and the Wisdom Daily, and has been published in Sojourners, Religion Dispatches and elsewhere. He can be found on Medium and Twitter.

A survey of Jewish Canadians indicates that we are not a Zionist monolith. This will be news to no one who has enjoyed a family seder or logged onto social media in recent years. However, it is useful to have a fairly comprehensive public opinion survey on the range of issues that tend to most divide us.

For some, the organizations that co-sponsored the survey will lead to outright dismissal. Undertaken by the polling firm EKOS on behalf of Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) and (UJPO), the goal of the exercise was no doubt to show considerable support for the positions espoused by these two groups that are routinely critical of Israeli policies.

By and large, though, the methodologies of the survey appear to have been relatively unbiased, and to ignore the findings is to bury our heads in sand.

Almost half (48%) of Jewish Canadians surveyed believe that “accusations of antisemitism are often used to silence legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies.” More than one-third (37%) have a negative opinion of the Israeli government. On the matter of the United States moving its embassy to Jerusalem, 45% oppose and 42% support the move. Nearly one-third (30%) think that a boycott of Israel is reasonable and 34% also oppose Parliament condemning those who endorse such a boycott. Almost one in three (31%) oppose the military blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The sponsors of the survey see the results as evidence that Jews whose positions are often dismissed as marginal actually represent a large swath of Canadian Jewish opinion.

We quibble with aspects. One question asks: “In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled unanimously that the wall built by the Israeli government on Palestinian territory violates international law. In response, one year later, over 170 Palestinian citizens’ organizations called for a boycott to pressure Israel to abide by international law. Do you consider the Palestinians’ call for such a boycott to be reasonable?” It may be a bit much to ask someone answering a phone at dinnertime to disagree with something called the International Court of Justice and 170 Palestinian organizations. Overall, though, most of the questions were not misleading nor did they have preambles intended to lead the respondents, as did this one. The survey does, nonetheless, reflect a prevailing narrative that Israel has no legitimate security concerns and erects barriers along the West Bank and blockades Gaza just for fun. But that is the playing field we are on.

Whatever criticisms or doubts we might have about the survey should not distract us from the reality it means to deliver. There are serious divisions between Diaspora Jews and the approach of the government of Israel. Ignoring, papering over or stigmatizing these differences of opinion will harm both Jewish cohesion in the Diaspora and crucial support for Israel. As we have said in this space many times over the years, Israel’s leaders must make decisions based on its security needs, not on what makes it easier for Diaspora Jews to be proud Zionists. However, we do Israel and our own community a disservice by isolating and denouncing those who disagree with the positions of our main communal agencies.

An election is approaching in Israel and that could lead to more of the same or to a significant shift in policy – or to some sort of hybrid between the two. Things change quickly, particularly in that part of the world, and what is true in a survey today may not be true in a year or five.

Even if Israeli policies remain largely the same after April’s election, it is probably not a sustainable position for Canadian or other Diaspora Jewish communities to pretend that a (seemingly) growing chorus of dissent is nonexistent, insignificant, misguided or ill-willed. That is a recipe for irrelevance, particularly among younger Jews.

In fairness, the idea that the Jewish “establishment” is a monolith is an unjust characterization. A diversity of opinions exists in our communal organizations and, certainly, in the plethora of traditional media (like this one) and new media (blogs, online publications and social platforms), a million flowers bloom. So, we challenge the premise that our community enforces a strict ideological membership code. But, we definitely could be better at acknowledging the full range of diversity – even if that means arguing and contesting positions, or even shifting our communal narrative. Indeed, that is entirely in keeping with our community’s tradition.

Last month, Ultimate Canada named Sarah Jacobsohn the 2018 Junior Female Athlete of the Year.

“I was in the middle of biology class, looked at my phone, and saw that one of my teammates had texted me saying congratulations and a long paragraph,” recalled Jacobsohn about hearing of the award. “And I was like, what’s going on? I had no idea.

“Then, I saw the article that was written about me and I got the notification that they had selected me for the award … and I started crying in the middle of class and I called my mom. It was so surreal and just amazing.”

Jacobsohn was born in St. Louis, Mo., in 2000, and moved with her parents and older sister to Winnipeg in 2006. She has been attending Gray Academy of Jewish Education since then, and will be graduating this year.

Athleticism runs in the family. Both of Jacobsohn’s parents played sports into adulthood. She also gets her height from her parents: her mom is 5’11” and her dad is just over six feet.

Jacobsohn has played sports for as long as she can remember. “I played Timbits soccer since I was in Grade 1, then I continued playing competitive tennis and soccer. Once I found ultimate, I quit all those other sports to play ultimate,” she told the Independent. “For my high school, I still play volleyball, basketball and ultimate but, on a competitive level, I gave the others up for ultimate.” (That said, she remains a competitive player at the other sports. For example, on the school’s varsity basketball team, she has been averaging 37 points per game.)

Ultimate was designed to be played without referees. “The spirit of the game is heavily emphasized, which is something you don’t find a lot in competitive sports in this day and age,” said Jacobsohn. “Essentially, it’s about maintaining a level of sportsmanship and integrity while playing the sport. You have to make the calls yourself and communicate with other players on the other team. And, it’s always maintained, that sportsmanship and respect for other players. Even at the highest level, ultimate is still heavily dependent on player communication, which I think is amazing.”

At the higher levels, there are “observers,” who help the players regulate the game, but they only intervene when asked by the players to do so. And, even after having been asked for their opinion, it is still up to the players to accept or disregard an observer’s call.

“I think that’s what a lot of sports have lost in the past few decades,” said Jacobsohn. “That competitive atmosphere takes away from the sportsmanship, and it shouldn’t. There should be a balance.”

In ultimate, she said, “people understand that, to keep that respect of the game, they have to be honest. It’s really amazing to see that, even at the highest level.”

Jacobsohn started playing ultimate in Grade 6 and, at 14 years old, her coach convinced her to try out for the provincial junior team. She made the team, as one of the youngest in the group. It was there that a national coach spotted her and, at age 15, she traveled to Vancouver for the national tryouts and made the team.

Jacobsohn participated in her first world championship in Poland in 2016, and Canada took home the gold. Last summer, Jacobsohn, as captain, led the provincial team to a gold medal. She went on to captain Team Canada to a bronze medal at the world championship in Waterloo, Ont.

All of these feats, as well as her extensive involvement in the ultimate and broader communities, contributed to Jacobsohn being chosen for the athlete-of-the-year award.

“The award is strictly based on achievements from the past year,” said Jacobsohn. “So, last year, I was captain of my provincial team and we won gold at nationals for the first time ever. Then, as captain of Team Canada, we won bronze at the worlds. And, I’ve done a lot of community stuff locally.

“I’ve been involved in the Winnipeg ultimate community for six or seven years, which is a lot, when I’m only 18 years old. I’ve gotten to know essentially the entire ultimate community. I’ve literally grown up in this community – finding a lot of leadership opportunities in it and chances to voice my opinion. I fight a lot for gender equity and voice that opinion a lot in the Winnipeg ultimate community.”

Jacobsohn serves on the Manitoba Disk Sports board, offering suggestions, as a high school student, about tournament arrangements and how the province runs the sport. She also has been very involved in the Winnipeg Ultimate Women’s Competitive League, helping to get a lot of juniors involved.

“As a very competitive female athlete, I understand my responsibility growing up as a female athlete in today’s world,” she said. “I have an immense responsibility to stand up and role model for other female athletes, and I’m not scared to do that.

“And, going to school where I’m one of six girls in my grade, I’ve been able to gain respect from a lot of boys and change perspectives on what being a female athlete means.”

Now, Jacobsohn is busy training for the under-24 national team tryouts. And, while her main aspiration is to become a doctor, like her dad, she is hoping to continue playing ultimate competitively for many years to come.

Ayalon Canada Park in the Ayalon
Valley is one of the projects JNF supports. (photo by Guy Asiag, KKL-JNF
photo archive)

A member of Parliament has agreed to sponsor an
e-petition that calls on the government to revoke the charitable status of the
Jewish National Fund of Canada (JNF).

This is the first time an MP has lent support
to an effort to rescind JNF’s tax-exempt charitable status in Canada and marks
the latest development in a long-running battle by those opposed to the JNF’s
charitable status.

Quebec NDP MP and national revenue critic
Pierre-Luc Dusseault has agreed to sponsor petition E-1999, which, as of this
writing [Jan. 21], had garnered more than 1,400 signatures. It went online on
Jan. 9 and will close for signatures on May 9.

E-petitions are an official system whereby
petitions that are sponsored by an MP and receive 500 signatures will be tabled
in the House of Commons. The government must then respond within 45 days.

It was submitted by Independent Jewish Voices
of Canada (IJV), which is considered an outlier within the Jewish community,
due to its support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against
Israel.

On its website, IJV calls itself “a grassroots
organization grounded in Jewish tradition that opposes all forms of racism and
advocates for justice and peace for all in Israel-Palestine.”

The JNF was recently the subject of a scathing
story by the CBC, which reported that the charity was under a Canada Revenue
Agency audit for using charitable donations to build infrastructure for the
Israel Defence Forces, “in violation of Canada’s tax rules.”

The JNF responded by saying that it stopped
funding projects on Israeli military bases in 2016 and that the projects only
“indirectly” involved the IDF, because they were for children and youth on land
owned by the IDF.

In a subsequent interview with the CJN,
JNF Canada’s chief executive officer, Lance Davis, said the charity is working
with the CRA on its review and issued staunch defences of JNF’s financial
transparency and donor accountability.

The e-petition, which is addressed to the
minister of national revenue, says JNF Canada “engages in discriminatory practices,
as its landholdings are chartered for exclusively Jewish ownership, lease and
benefit, as noted by the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, a former
attorney general of Israel and the JNF itself.”

It says evidence “strongly indicates” that JNF
Canada violates the Income Tax Act, common law and Canada Revenue Agency policy
over its IDF-related projects.

As well, it claims the charity violates
Canadian and international law “by enabling physical changes within occupied
territory, thereby helping Israel effectively annex land within occupied
territory, and, in the case of east Jerusalem, deepen control over land already
annexed illegally.”

“Notably,” it adds, “the JNF Canada-funded
Canada Park was built on the lands of three Palestinian villages destroyed
following the 1967 war in direct violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

It also accuses JNF Canada materials of
depicting “occupied territory as part of Israel, a representation that runs
contrary to Canadian foreign policy and international law.”

It calls on the minister of national revenue to
revoke JNF’s charitable status, if the charity is found to violate the Income
Tax Act, or CRA guidelines and policies.

It was initiated by Rabbi David Mivasair, a
longtime IJV activist now based in Hamilton, Ont. He called the e-petition
“part of an ongoing process” to hold public officials accountable.

“It’s incontrovertibly factual that JNF Canada
is in violation of Canada’s tax laws,” Mivasair claimed. “It has been for
decades. It’s been reported for decades.”

This latest campaign “is not something that I
take any pleasure in doing, but feel is morally necessary to be done,” he
added.

According to guidelines for MPs, no debate is
permitted when a member presents a petition. An MP “may make a brief factual
statement (referring to the petition being duly certified, to its source, to
the subject matter of the petition and its request, and to the number of
signatures it carries), but members are not allowed to read petitions nor are
they to indicate their agreement or disagreement with them.”

In 2017, IJV submitted an 85-page complaint
about JNF Canada to the CRA and the national revenue minister. That followed
many other campaigns designed to pressure federal officials.

This is the first time IJV has submitted a parliamentary petition and it’s “just one way of drawing public attention to this,” said the group’s national coordinator, Corey Balsam. “We’re assuming [officials] will look into it and not much more than that. [But] it’s definitely a big step for our campaign.”

He said Dusseault is “not someone who’s very
engaged [in the issue], but he heard the concerns and saw the evidence.”

Dusseault did not reply to the CJN’s
requests for comment.

In a statement posted to its website, JNF
called the e-petition “as empty and scurrilous as earlier efforts to
delegitimize the outstanding work of the JNF and, by extension, the existence
of the state of Israel.”

JNF said its outreach suggests “that those who
are applying any degree of critical thinking see the petition for what it is
and are dismissing it as not worthy of engagement.”

The most important thing as a parent
is to be able to identify when your child is stressed. (photo from
Psychology Foundation of Manitoba)

Despite the numerous technological advances we
have achieved to make our lives easier, we are more stressed than ever. Even
children are affected.

American psychologist Dr. Robin Alter moved to
Toronto in 1980 to work at the city’s mental health centres. Her focus is on
children’s health and, over her 36-year career, she has helped treat more than
10,000 families.

“If you’re just in private practice, you don’t
get to do that…. You can’t see that many people,” Alter told the Independent.
“So, I started thinking that I really need to start writing down what I’ve
learned from this incredible experience and try to give it back.

“A lot of the things I was learning on the
ground, in those face-to-face meetings, were things I couldn’t read about. It
was not written in the studies I was reading. My experience, and what works for
people or doesn’t, is different than what was written in books or journals.”

In addition to numerous articles, many of which can be found on her website (docrobin.com), Alter is the author of the book Anxiety and the Gift of Imagination and The Anxiety Workbook for Kids.

When she was in university, Alter’s teacher,
Judy Levy, helped steer her toward working with children.

“I loved talking with them and finding ways
they could express themselves so we could understand what they were feeling and
why they were behaving the way they were,” said Alter. “Then, I came to Canada.
I walked into these children’s mental health centres and looked around and I
found all these people who shared the same mission as me…. I was ecstatic,
realizing that I’m not doing this by myself. I’m doing this with an army of
people who are passionate, who are inspired to dedicate their lives and energy
to helping children and families.”

When the system switched to providing such care
in a hospital setting, Alter opted to work from the outside, to educate people
about how changes in society are affecting kids.

According to Alter, the effects of stress start
at infancy for many kids, as they are thrust into a daycare environment for
eight to 10 hours a day.

“That’s very hard for kids if you think about
it,” she said. “When you’re with your family, you can let your hair down,
right? You can be yourself, be relaxed. You’re protected, cared for, special.
When you’re in a large group of other kids – even if it’s a good place – they
have a number of kids to look after … there is always stress involved, some
kids who want the toy you want to play with.

“You don’t have the skills yet to figure out a
compromise, so you’re just fighting over the toy or feeling left out. Everybody
seems to be playing with somebody and you don’t have anybody to play with. And,
you know, there’s not always going to be an adult who notices that you’re under
stress.

“The children leave their home early in the
morning, spend all day in a competitive environment, and [are] picked up at the
end of the day just to have dinner, a bath and go to bed…. Going to bed, too,
is stress-inducing for all of us, but especially for kids. And we wonder why
they are having trouble keeping up.

“I think there’s an epidemic of sleep deprivation,”
she added. “Kids really don’t know how to unwind at night, how to take their
worries and put them aside. I know most parents have a fairly good bedtime
routine, where they read to their kids and turn out the lights, but I think it
can be improved. Kids need to learn how to turn off their minds and put the day
to rest.”

Alter has conducted nearly 6,000 psychological
assessments and continues to do more. For this, there is a form that parents
fill out – in 90% of these assessments, parents identify problems with sleep.

According to Alter, Vancouver’s Dr. Gabor Maté,
an expert on child development, believes that many kids who are identified as
ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) are really just sleep deprived
and misdiagnosed. And, if they get diagnosed as having ADHD, they will likely
get medication – medication that causes sleep deprivation, further intensifying
the problem.

The most important thing as a parent, said
Alter, is to be able to identify when your child is stressed. The key to doing
this is paying attention mainly to what is not being said. “Look for the cues,”
she said. “Kids have a different response, but, usually, it’s a change in
behaviour. They stop and, sometimes, their eyes get wider. We can do things to
alleviate that stress, explain things to them. For example, the other night, at
dinner, I drank a little bit of water, and then I was talking to Lewis [her
2-year-old grandson] and he turned to me and said, ‘Baba, you just spit at me!’

“He looked horrified at that. Why would his
grandmother spit at him? Something he’s learned in daycare is that you don’t
spit. He looked like I had just done this horrible thing. We explained to him
that I didn’t spit at him, that it was water that came off my lips and that I’d
never spit at him. Then he became unstressed.

“So, sometimes, just explaining what’s going
on; giving the kid a good explanation can alleviate the stress. Those are
minimal stresses. But, sometimes, there are big stressors going on.”

While stress can be overwhelming, it is important
to remember that we don’t want to completely eliminate it. “Stress is our
passport, or what we need to have an interesting life,” said Alter.

We have to learn that stress is a part of life
and that we need to learn ways to de-stress. This is a main focus of the
Psychology Foundation of Canada program Kids Have Stress Too, for kids 3 to 5
years old.

One of the strengths of the program is that it
relays that stress is normal, everybody gets stressed. “And, you know, you can
identify it in other kids,” said Alter. “When other kids are stressed, you can
identify it in yourself and you can help yourself to feel better…. You can
learn how to come back, bounce back from stress.

“I was at a session, my own personal
professional session with a mother. She was very stressed by her daughter, who
was 5 years old and had been diagnosed with epilepsy. The mother was very
stressed by the diagnosis and the symptoms. The kids were in the room.

“The 5-year-old heard her mother talking about
how stressed she was – and the kid had actually been through the Psychology
Foundation program Kids Have Stress Too. Her ears perked up at the word
‘stress’ and she said, ‘Mom, I know what to do when you get stressed.’ The
mother said, ‘You do?’ And the kid said, ‘You sing a song.’ She had a song she
learned in the program and she sang it to her mother, and it was very cute and
helpful, and the mother laughed. Laughter is a good way to alleviate stress.

“Another good way of helping kids alleviate
stress is to encourage them to be helpful to others. When we are kind to
others, when we reach out and give people food, and share – all those things
alleviate our stress.”

The Kids Have Stress Too program teaches
children to be aware of when they are stressed. Some kids feel nausea or a rush,
as if an alarm system is going off in their body. Some kids feel it in their
tummies. Others feel it in their heads. Once they learn what these feelings
mean, it normalizes it and then it is not so scary. So, they are able to take
care of themselves and sometimes take care of others.

“If you see other kids going through the
program, someone stressed, they sometimes put their arm around them and say,
‘It’s OK. Everything’s alright, so let’s go play, let’s go do something fun,’”
said Alter. “And that’s what it’s all about.

“There are wonderful little techniques,” she
said. “The one I like most is the cloud push. You stand up and put your hands
up and push the clouds away, like you’re pushing all the stress away. You’re
getting rid of all the things you don’t want. Push them into the sky. Let them
fly away.”

Alter shared a story about visiting a junior
kindergarten class, where she read the kids a book about animals having a bad
day and getting stressed. She was taken aback by the responses she got from the
4-year-olds when she asked them if they had ever had a bad day.

“I turned to them and said, ‘Well, the
orangutan is having a bad day. Have you ever felt that way?’ And, I look up to
see this whole sea of faces, all shaking their heads as hard as they can,
saying, ‘No. No. Never!’ And, I was shocked. I realized that, even at this age,
the peer pressure of how we’re not supposed to feel that way, not supposed to
admit to others that we feel bad, was already instilled so early.

“Then, they went to little tables
independently. We gave them crayons and paper, and each one of them drew these
amazing pictures of things in their life that stress them out. One kid drew a
picture of his mom having cancer and going to the hospital. Another kid drew a
picture of his father leaving the family. And, I realized that they got the
message, what I was reading about. They were not going to admit it in the
group, but they were very eager to talk about it individually.

“We need to help kids realize that they are not
alone with these problems or feelings,” said Alter. “That’s one of the biggest
strengths of the program – an adult can help kids, too, by talking about their
stresses.”

Parents need to be sharing their feelings with
their kids, and then showing them how we move past them, she said.

“Kids don’t so much listen to what we say as
much as what we do,” said Alter. “Kids are more doers. And so, for example,
getting them out to the yard and doing exercise – throwing a ball around or
something – is a good way to alleviate stress.

“Many kids stop talking because we use words
they don’t understand, and they just don’t understand what we’re talking about.
But, they understand action and behaviour. So, doing things with them and
encouraging them to do things is a lot more helpful. Also, laughing is a way to
alleviate stress. So, telling a joke, being silly, or just letting … stress out
that way is great.

“Kids need to know that when they are out there
in the ‘jungle’ of school that their parents are behind them and that they are
not alone in whatever is going on,” she said. “Our daughter had a lot of
trouble in grades 4 to 6 – bullying, mistreating stuff. Every night, we’d
strategize what she could do, have long conversations. None of them worked.
She’d say, ‘I tried that. It didn’t work.’ She knew that we were behind her,
that she wasn’t alone. She had a team who understood how difficult the
situation was. I think all those things help.”

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman speaks at
the Nov. 22 forum Wide Awake. According to Ivy Kopstein of Jewish Child and
Family Service of Winnipeg, he “is advocating to all levels of government for
resources to deal with this health crisis.” (photo by Nik Rave)

“It is a significant issue in both Winnipeg and
Vancouver,” Dr. Ruth Simkin told the Independent. “In Vancouver, it has
been overshadowed by the opioid crisis, but is a significant problem there,
too. It is seen in the Winnipeg Jewish community. I don’t have stats on its
prevalence in this particular group, but it is likely similar to other
populations.”

Simkin is a family physician working at a
community health clinic in Winnipeg and part-time with the addictions
unit/addictions consult service at the Health Sciences Centre (HSC) and Rapid
Access Addictions Medicine (RAAM). The JI recently interviewed her about
addiction; in particular, to methamphetamine, in light of a Nov. 22 forum in
Winnipeg on the topic.

Wide Awake – An Eye-Opening Look at
Methamphetamine in Winnipeg was held at the Asper Jewish Community Campus. It
was co-presented by Jewish Child and Family Service (JCFS) of Winnipeg, Gray
Academy of Jewish Education and the Rady Jewish Community Centre.

Amphetamines were developed in the late 1900s
and used commercially from about 1930 for various reasons, including nasal
congestion and to keep soldiers awake. Because of their adverse effects and
addictive properties, however, their use became legally restricted in the
1970s.

Methamphetamine (crystal meth) belongs to the
amphetamine class of drugs – stimulants that speed up the body’s central
nervous system. Although not legally available in Canada, crystal meth has been
used recreationally for a very long time.

“The initial effects of methamphetamine on the
user are a sense of well-being or euphoria, increased energy and alertness,
increased confidence and little need for food or sleep,” said Simkin. “Unwanted
potential side effects include racing heart, dry mouth, nausea and vomiting,
anxiety and restlessness. It can also produce paranoia, delusions and
aggressive and violent behaviour.”

“Methamphetamine comes as a powder that can be
used by ingesting, snorting, smoking or injecting,” explained Dr. Erin Knight,
medical director of the HSC’s addictions program, who was a Wide Awake panelist.
“It also comes in a crystal form (crystal meth). It is produced in illegal labs
with fairly inexpensive and sometimes toxic ingredients. It may be made with
ingredients from antifreeze, batteries and cleaning fluid.”

It is estimated that one percent of students in
Manitoba from grades 7 to 12 have tried methamphetamine over the last year. It
is easily accessible and inexpensive. Its price has dropped significantly in
the last few years, from approximately $30 per gram to $10 per gram.

In her work at the HSC, it is common for Simkin
to see patients who use meth, usually along with other drugs.

“It is a growing problem,” said Simkin about
the use of the drug. “It is very accessible, cheap, has a prolonged effect on
the user – six to eight hours if injected and 10 to 12 hours if smoked – and it
is very reinforcing (addictive).

“As well, its effects are more unpredictable
than other drugs. The number of users has doubled over the last few years. And,
we’re also seeing a shift from individuals smoking meth to them injecting
meth.”

According to Sheri Fandrey of the Addictions
Foundation of Manitoba – who also was a Wide Awake panelist – drug mixing
increases the potential for challenging behaviours and the possibility of a
serious overdose. That meth is bought and sold in an unregulated market
increases the risk that it may contain adulterants and contaminants that can
cause further harm.

“There is no specific treatment in terms of
medication,” said Simkin regarding addiction to meth. “There is some evidence
for the use of motivational interviewing (MI) and rewards-based treatment.”

A recent Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
(WRHA) report stated that, in the 2014-2015 fiscal year, 682 people who sought
treatment at the Addictions Foundation
had used meth over the prior 12 months. A year later, that number had
increased to 1,198. Meth was no longer being reported to be an occasional drug,
and women were using more than in the past.

“As far as we know, meth use crosses all lines:
rural/urban, high/low income and male/female,” said Simkin. “However, as with
other substances, there are higher risk groups. These higher risk groups are
students, low-income, rural, homeless, disenfranchised groups and people with
co-occurring mental health disorders.”

Last year’s theme for Addictions Awareness
Week, chosen by the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction, was “All
Walks of Life.” Substance use issues and addiction do not discriminate by age,
gender, class or religion.

Simkin said this is a complex and difficult
issue, but suggested that having education programs in schools would be
helpful, as are forums such as Wide Awake.

As a community, Simkin said there are several
things that can be done to improve the situation:

1. Reduce the stigma around substance use in
general, so people who need help aren’t afraid to seek it.

2. In terms of government, increase funding for
detox beds and addiction treatment, including harm-reduction services.

3. Work on other determinants of health, like
poverty, housing and education, as well as mental health, to try to prevent
addiction in the first place.

Ivy Kopstein, coordinator of the substance use and addictions program at Jewish Child and Family Service of Winnipeg, answers a question from CityTV at the forum Wide Awake. (photo by Nik Rave)

Another resource now available in Winnipeg are
the RAAM clinics that have been instituted recently by the WRHA to provide
low-barrier access to resources for individuals needing help with substances
abuse issues, including crystal meth.

“The City of Winnipeg and law enforcement are
responding to the crisis on the streets and have included public education
programs in all areas of the city,” said Ivy Kopstein, coordinator of the substance
use and addictions program at JCFS Winnipeg. “Our mayor is advocating to all
levels of government for resources to deal with this health crisis.”

“Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has now been
given the authority to give meth users the antipsychotic drug Olanzapine,”
Simkin offered by way of an example.

When a loved one has a substance abuse issue,
it impacts the whole family, she said. Family members may feel stressed and
anxious and it’s important for them to also seek support.

In British Columbia, the B.C. Centre on Substance Use (bccsu.ca) “is a provincially networked organization with a mandate to develop, help implement and evaluate evidence-based approaches to substance use and addiction.” Other resources include Crystal Meth Anonymous (crystalmeth.org), which is similar to Alcoholics Anonymous and lists a meeting place on Hornby Street in Vancouver, and Jewish Addiction Community Services (778-882-2994 or [email protected]).

Left to right are panelists at a
recent National Council of Jewish Women panel on organ transplants: Dr. Aviva
Goldberg, Rabbi Yossi Benarroch, Marshall Miller and Na’ama Miller. (photo
from NCJW)

On Dec. 11, the Winnipeg section of National
Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) held an organ donation awareness event,
featuring community members Rabbi Yossi Benarroch, Dr. Aviva Goldberg, and
husband (organ recipient) and wife (organ donor) Marshall and Na’ama Miller.

“The short of it is, basically, that Jewish law
permits organ donations,” he said. “There’s no question about that. Of course,
when we talk about law, law is complicated and there are lots of opinions.
There’s an ideal in Judaism, which is one of those foundations, and it’s called
‘pikuach nefesh doche hakol’ … which basically means that, in Judaism,
there’s nothing more important than saving a life.

“I’m a very observant Jew and I keep kosher,”
he said, “but if I had to eat something that wasn’t kosher – pork or whatever –
in order to save my life, then Jewish law says you’re obligated to do that.”

Benarroch said it is written that, if someone
saves a life, it is as if they have saved the entire world. Furthermore, he
said, we are called to not stand idly by if another person is suffering. “We
are obligated to intervene and actually obligated to help that individual,” he
said.

Marshall Miller, who was diagnosed with
progressive kidney disease more than 25 years ago, eventually required
replacement therapy.

“Slowly, over time, my kidney failure began to
get worse and worse,” he shared. “The disease progressed to the point where, a
few years back, my GP at the time said, ‘Marshall, you’re now at the point
where you have to go see a specialist because I can’t do anything more for you
here … you need an expert to deal with your situation.’

“Everybody who suffers from kidney disease
understands that, what kidneys do, among many things, is purify your blood.
When your blood isn’t being purified properly, you can start to feel kind of
lousy. I think my family can attest to the fact that I was starting to feel
lousy. I think my whole family suffered along as I did, as I got sicker and
sicker.”

When his kidney function was down to less than
10%, the specialist started talking seriously about replacement therapy. This
involved dialysis three times a week until a matching donor could be found.

During the search for a donor, Na’ama Miller
decided to find out if she might be able to help other people in her husband’s
situation. As it turned out, she was a match for her husband.

“We were told it was a one hundred million
shot,” she said. “And so, we were next faced with a bit of a dilemma …
because it was scary for the kids. But Samantha and Maya were very much in
favour of it, because they didn’t want me to be miserable anymore.”

She said, “People ask me, how I could do this
… if it was hard. I give everyone the same answer. It was a no-brainer, a
very easy decision for me. As Marshall said … we were all suffering along
with him.”

“It’s worth it. You saved a life,” her husband
added. “We hope this event here – even if only one more person signs up …
hopefully, more and more people will choose to do it among the Jewish community
after hearing the story.”

After the Millers spoke, a second video was
screened, about a former Winnipegger who donated a kidney to save the life of a
woman in California, who he has never met.

“Right now, in Canada, there are over 4,500
people waiting for an organ transplant – 4,500 Marshalls,” said Goldberg, who
is the director of the Canadian Society of Transplantation and chair of the
Transplant Manitoba kidney allocation review committee. “We don’t have 4,500
Na’amas. That’s why we need donors – both living and also deceased donors.

“That’s what we want to talk about today,” she
said, “even if you don’t go forward to become a living donor, which is a really
big deal. It’s not something that every person in this room is going to be able
to do and that’s totally fair. But, there’s something that everyone in this
room can do and that’s to sign up for organ donation after you’ve died – say
that this is something I’d like to do, that you’d like to leave a legacy …
you can save lives after you’ve died, either with organ or tissue donation. You
can save lives by donating organs – heart, liver, lungs, pancreas, kidneys and
even small bowel – but, also tissue donation.”

In some cases, people can donate their corneas
to help improve the life of others. According to Goldberg, Manitoba, last year,
was the fourth on the world list of most donors.

While Goldberg implored people to sign up as
donors online, she further reminded them that talking to family about your
willingness to be a donor is also very important – and not just immediate
family, as they might be in the same car with you when you have a horrific
accident, for example.

“The way that organ donation works in Canada,
here, in Manitoba, is that after someone has died and they are potentially
going to be an organ donor, their family is approached,” said Goldberg. “If you
sign up for the registry, it’s a way of saying to your family, on the very
worst day of their lives, that this is something your loved one wanted – wanted
so much that they went to the registry, signed up, made that choice. It’s a
hard discussion to have … [but] it’s so important to do.”

During the question-and-answer period, one
attendee asked if there was an age limit for someone to donate an organ. The
answer? “No.”

Another question was about the possibility of
rejection and, to that, Marshall Miller shared his experience. “I suffered from
a mild early rejection,” he said. “But, the ability to detect the rejection and
be able to remedy it is incredible. They were able to treat me with medication
instantaneously and, really, it was a non-issue for me. Even though there is a
risk of rejection, it can easily be found if you attend your appointments and
take your medication.”

For information on organ donation in British Columbia and to register, visit transplant.bc.ca.